Let's Celebrate, It's All Right!

In the last few years I have become more obsessed with Disney animation/film. Everytime there's a documentary on Disney or Pixar I'm glued to the set even if it's one I've seen over and over.

It's quite possible that Walt has replaced Spielberg as my number one film 'idol'. There's something in the way that Walt commanded the storytelling that made the magic happen. He didn't wave the wand and sing bibbity bobbity boo, but he brought to life so many timeless stories. Yes they were adaptations, but they were his own telling.

I would have loved to have lived in that time and been in those studios just to watch him work. Listening to him quote what movie making and "Disney" meant to him brings out such emotion in me.

Don't get me wrong, as far as live action story telling goes I still feel Spielberg is in a class by himself... but there's something about the whole of Disney that just hasn't been topped. I pray that Lassetter and the newest team running the company brings the magic back. They've shown promise, but I'm tired of 3D Disney Animation. I love Pixar's stuff... I want 2D back. And not Emperor's New Groove or Hercules 2D... I want a 2D film with heart and soul like the classics.

Off we go - oh! - who could ask for anything more!

Last post until I make it to probably Disney Property. Though I hear MCO has free net access, so depending how long we have to wait for DME...

I'm packed. Gotta dress. Gaylord needs the computer room. So... I'm outta here! WAGON!

Oh that Magic Kingdom in the sky!
We will all be there together by and by!
All religions there are practiced
Except for Southern Baptist!
When we reach that Magic Kingdom in the sky!

I'm going to pack up my computer tonight after I get off in a couple of hours, so this is my last post on this journal until I get back (Jan. 22 - AT THE EARLIEST). I am planning to check in online occassionally tomorrow on facebook and email, but from my aunt's computer. I am so excited it isn't even funny, as you can imagine.

Anyway, I will have net access most days when I'm down at Disney but I cannot promise any sort of chat or email exchange. We're basically going to get online to update our journal which can be found here - http://wdwbaby.insanejournal.com - and you don't have to be a member to read it (but friend us anyway!).

It would be really awesome of people following US Nationals could email me with results of Dance and Mens... but most IMPORTANTLY JUNIOR MENS... I want to know how Keegan is doing, and since I don't have text messaging email is the best way to go *HINT*.

So I hope everyone has a wonderful two weeks. I will see you when I get back! *hugs* I'm going to miss the Nationals gang... but I'll make it up eventually (I have gotten guilt trips from several people and Spokane has been calling... *sigh*).

TTFN - Ta Ta For Now!
-Toni

Now... bring me that horizon.

Good morning people who have nothing better to do than read our journal! You must be as bored - if not more so - than I am! For that I am sorry!

Today marks THREE DAYS till we're on a plane headed for Orlando. As of this moment our plane in Seattle would be ready to taxi out to the runway... we'd still have six plus hours before landing and getting that first bit of Disney Magic by meeting up with the Magical Express. lol.

Day Nine: EPCOT Day 3
07:00a - Wake Up
08:15a - Head to EPCOT
09:00a - Watch Opening of Park
09:15a - Breakfast @ Sunshine Seasons
09:30a - Tour Future World
12:30p - Head for Germany
01:00a - Lunch @ The Biergarten
02:00p - Tour World Showcase
08:00p - Dinner @ Yakitori Counter Service
09:00p - Illuminations
10:00p - Pack. :'(

Saturday night cannot get here fast enough!

Oh to live in a time with pretty dresses, eh?

Not if you're Georgina. I just finished watching The Duchess and it is just wonderful... the story is told brilliantly, the settings and costumes were just wow. And the acting was spot on especially by Fiennes and Knightly. Holy cow. Keira knocked it out of the ball park with this one and if she doesn't get recognized for it I'll be very dissapointed. I found this film far better than Atonement though the stories are very similar in some ways, and the ending doesn't harken Disney at all. lol.

I am seeing a pattern with Keira's films lol the ending just aren't all that happy to me. It all started with Pirates 3 and it's snowballing and getting worse. BLAH!

But all in all the film is masterful. I hope it doesn't get buried come Oscar time. It probably will, there's talk of other films already, but I think it deserves at the very least a mention... but I'm all for Keira winning best actress. She deserves it most definitely this time around.


*sigh* other than that, not much to talk about... I have FIVE DAYS till Disney, and I am mostly packed. The last things are essentials that can't be packed until the day of. Which, for me, means Saturday night... only 4 days away from that! *whew*!


Got the call from Janine a little bit ago. They got in way later than I expected. We're meeting up tomorrow so I can give her the lasagna. *sigh* I think I'll go from there over to my gparents... depending on when and where we meet. She said she'd give me a call in the morning once she figured out what she'd be doing.

Alright, I've got a load to go into the laundry, so I'm out.

Hope you all had a safe and happy new year. I made it to midnight in New York and Ohio but then I went to bed. ha ha. I'm a wimp. I've never really thought midnight ws something all that special anyway.

Now I'm watching the Rose Parade. From what I understand Alaska has a float in the parade this year celebrating FIFTY YEARS OF STATEHOOD.

Today also marks the 10 day mark! I'm not excited about that at all. Nope. In fact, I don't even want to go anymore! ha ha! I've packed my clothes, gotta move a few things around, and then I just have a few things after that and I'll be set.

Got a call from Janine Seavey two nights ago asking if I could help cook up some food for the three Seavey's running the Iditarod to leave at food drops, so I get to make lasagna for them... and have it done by the sixth!

I also have my make up interview test thing with the Census Bureau on Monday, so busy busy busy.

Gonna go watch the flowers roll down the street...

So, my Disney World obsession has taken a whole new level of pathetic. I'm watching TV tonight and one of those DTV ads came on reminding us we have only so much time before TV goes digital and analog tvs will be obsolete (except for Alaska where the transmitters still broadcast in analog so we're exempt) and the guy that's doing these "interviews" with people is none other than lazy/recreation man Dave from the Happiest Celebration on Earth Travel DVD and CD Rom freebie that WDW sent out when you inquired about a vacation.

It also happens to be my FAVORITE planning DVD. So I got all fan girly! haha.

so, yes, I recognize I have a massive problem lol

01. Name a movie that you have seen more than 10 times.
Star Wars, Big Fish, The Producers, Pirates, Forrest Gump, Sleeping Beauty, and many others.

02. Name a movie that you’ve seen multiple times in the theater.
Big Fish, Pirates, Finding Nemo, Revenge of the Sith

03. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie.
Orlando Bloom, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Hugh Laurie. Keira Knightly, Ewan McGregor... ok I'll stop lol

04. Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie.
LINDSAY LOHAN, George Clooney (unless it's an Ocean's movie), Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey, Will Ferrel, Cate Blanchett, Shia LeBouf, Hayden Christensen... just to name a few

05. Name a movie that you can quote from.
Just about all of them! LOL Pirates, Star Wars, Nemo, The Producers

06. Name a movie musical that you know all the lyrics to all the songs.
The Producers.

07. Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with.
The Producers, Meet Me In St. Louis, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

08. Name a movie that you would recommend everyone see.
WALL-E (gonna watch it before bed tonight!)

09. Name a movie that you own.
According to my excell spreadsheet I have over two hundred films here in Anchorage, and I'm sure I have close to that at home in Kenai... first one to come to my head - Sleeping Beauty

10. Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops.
Dame Julie Andrews - singing/vaudville, Martin Short - comedian, Robin Williams - comedian

11. Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in?
Unfortunately that's not a cost effective medium up here.

12. Ever made out in a movie?
Um. That'd be NO.

13. Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven’t gotten around to it.
Robin Hood: Men in Tights (because my best friend tells me I have to see it, not because I want to.)

14. Ever walked out of a movie?
No, though I wanted to during Mean Girls and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.

15. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater.
Revenge of the Sith (yes, really), At World's End (the second time, the first time I was shocked and ticked off), Wall-E

16. Popcorn?
I'm not allowed - it makes me hyper. Nachos or Cinnibon!

17. How often do you go to the movies (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
Now that Gaylord's here, I don't get to go to the movies. Stupid fat man.

18. What’s the last movie you saw in the theater?
Wall-E

19. What’s your favorite/preferred genre of movie?
Action Adventure, Disney

20. What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?
It was a double feature of The Land Before Time and Oliver & Company.

21. What movie do you wish you had never seen?
Just about every movie I've watched for my movies class this semester, and every Lindsay Lohan movie I've ever been suckered into seeing.

22. What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed?
I guess Elizabethtown since it's not your typical feel good movie... or Dan In Real Life.

23. What is the scariest movie you’ve seen?
Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte

24. What is the funniest movie you’ve seen?
Father of the Bride (Remake) 1 & 2, Home Alone 2, The Producers (the Musical), Pirates, and THE THREE AMIGOS!



in other news - Erin and I were able to get the resort upgrade that we wanted for 8 nights of our trip! We're going to be staying at the Coronado Springs resort from Jan 11 through to the 19th, then we switch over to the Pop Century for the 19th through the 22nd. I stayed at the Coronado last summer with the family and I can't wait to go back, I'm so glad Erin picked it! hee hee! It has the biggest hot tub which I think was a big ticket item for her! ;)

I think I'm tryin to come down with a cold, I've been feeling really crappy as of late. I hope I'm wrong, I don't want to be sick for the holidays again.

...one of film's greatest love stories/scenes of all time. And certainly Disney's HOTTEST scene EVER!

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Such a beautiful and tragic and wonderful and perfect story. No, I don't like the outcome, but I can't think of a better way to tell a story or to keep fans on their toes.

And who can't love Orlando Bloom as Will Turner in At World's End. There can't possibly be a hotter pirate on the planet. I LOVE how he was made up for AWE. The burgandy shirt alone is freaking hot. *dreamy sigh*

I better be careful, people might think I'm actually obsessed with Mr. Bloom.

Courtney called me last night asking for help as she was in charge of a trivia game for her Young Mother's Group Disney Night and I was the biggest Disney Freak she knew. Hee hee! So I went over today with my Disney Scene It Games (all three of them, plus my Pirates one) and we ended up playing the game while her son, Benn, took a nap.

Watching clips of the films we grew up brought back so many awesome memories. We grew up kitty corner to each other. From age 6 on we were pretty much inseperable until Junior High. She was a year older, and so it only makes sense that that preteen jump tore us a bit a part. But we've always been there for each other when we needed. We quarrelled like sisters A LOT but I don't know where I would have been without her.

We remembered several movie adventures together. Most memorable was a Christmas event we did, when we went and saw Santa and won tickets to a holiday showing of the Lion King, I went with her family and we got to sit away from the grown ups. We felt so mature. But right in the middle of "Just Can't Wait To Be King" her younger brother David got up in front of the screen and began dancing to the music. He was maybe 4 at the oldest but I remember Courtney trying to die in her seat.

We had a great laugh and a great chat. I have missed chatting with her on a regular basis. It happens when friends move away or get married and start a family and all that. We find it a total God thing that we are, once again, pretty much Kitty Corner to each other. We're still inseperable in a way! ha ha!

Anyway Benn woke up as we were getting to the end of playing the game, and he added to the fun. I love that little boy he's so funny! He was really good at identifying the different characters (better than mommy, and he beat me to one of the characters! he's 2!!!), anyway a clip from Curse of the Black Pearl came on - the scene where Will and Liz are below deck and she asks Will what sort of man trades a man's life for a ship and then she reveals that she has Will's father's Pirate medallion - and I was glued to the clip (duh it's pirates) as it's one of my favorite moments (ok let's face it Will and Liz scenes no matter what they are make my heart flutter) and I looked at Courtney and said "he's so pretty." Which we laughed at.

Well apparently Benn made a connection and when the next scene from Pirates that featured Will came up he pointed to the screen and said "ooo Pretty!" so we spent the rest of the time hoping for Pirates clips to come up (which they did, Thank You God!) and we taught him "Captain Turner" "Pirates" and "Krakken"... ok so *I* taught him that and Courtney laughed at me! LOL

I have to take my Daisy Duck costume over to her tomorrow (couldn't find it until after I got over there and Judy called and I asked where she'd hidden it lol). We're hoping that if Dave has to work on Saturday that I'll go over and we'll play Friends Scene It! lol

*sigh* it's almost 11pm so I best be getting to bed! 9 days (10 sleeps!) till I get on a plane! w00t!!!

So yeah I am a bad girl and I haven't been paying attention to the Southern Baptist Convention stuff, but it was just talked about on the local news so I figured I might want to talk about it.

After 8 years we are officially offing the ban on Disney. This does not surprise me as I think the ban was lifted several years ago just not officially. As everyone knows I'm a huge fan of Disney. I've been to Disney World twice, Disney Land once, and I own a lot of Disney crap. LOL I LOVE Disney. Do I agree with their stance on homosexuality. No. But I haven't banned my country either.

So I am happy to say that I am not "going against the Baptists" any longer. I agree that we should still watch out for what they are trying to fill our kids' heads, but I've never fully agreed with their ban. But that was mostly because I love Disney, not because I didn't think it was a right thing to do.

To read an article on it click here.

Go to the end of the article... UNLESS you want to read some quotes by my pastor on a seperate issue... it's cool. The issue at hand has him totally pissed off, so it's good to see him get quoted for it. I'm not sure if he's going to go with the story to the secular media or not... if they didn't do what he wanted he threatened to throw a major fit (in all honesty his feelings are valid... there are some secretaries of Board members with higher salaries than the profs at different Baptist colleges and he wants to know why...)

anyway that's all I want to say I have to print this out for dad, he's the pastor of the evening and people will want to see this! :)